TAI Weekly

TAI Weekly | A New Playbook for Philanthropy Under Pressure

By TAI (Role at TAI)
Cogs-image.jpg
TAI Weekly

Dear readers,

Civic space concerns escalating in the United States, reflections from a busy UN General Assembly and New York Climate Week, seeking decent work in the platform economy, engaging youth activists and the power of “allyship” - these are just a few of the threads in this Weekly.

But we start with a reminder of the backdrop of wealth inequality and demands for wealth taxes - see this visualization of how millionaire wealth is flowing around the world.

Happy reading!

TAI team

WHAT'S NEW?

World Bank legitimacy hinges on real citizen engagement, argue Vinay Bhargava and Blair Glencorse in Global Policy Journal. Drawing on Tanzania’s REGROW Project, they show how unaddressed grievances—from evictions to violence—expose serious accountability gaps. Despite commitments to new participation frameworks, progress has stalled. The authors call for meaningful action to ensure development truly reflects affected communities’ voices.

Amid so much uncertainty today, shifts can appear sudden when, in truth, they have long been in motion. Structural vulnerabilities accumulate beneath conventional recognition, warn the authors of the new Fracture Atlas, designed to help us see faultlines beyond the familiar external threats. 

The fight to protect communities and the environment is also a fight to protect democracy. Jen Duggan and Joy Bannerin analyze the democracy emergency coming from the oil and gas industry. 

With some timely drawings and analysis, Peter Evans visualizes the changes we are seeing within civil society and relations with ruling elites.

Tax rules determine who lives with dignity and who is denied that right, explains law professor Steven Dean in this edition of Key Voices. His analysis unpacks the racial and colonial foundations of the global tax system, arguing that reclaiming taxing rights is essential to building economic justice and dismantling what he terms "Global Jim Crow."

A new report from African feminist organizations charts a path for decent work in the platform economy. Emerging from the 113th International Labour Conference, including a keynote from TAI’s Leah Eryenyu, the groups present an African Feminist Common Position resisting Big Tech’s influence and envisioning futures rooted in Pan-African feminist thought.

A new Accountability Lab Pakistan brief exposes systemic flaws in urban governance. From building collapses to flooding, recurring crises reflect three issues: weak data, reactive planning, and political distortions favoring short-term gains over resilience. The brief calls for stronger real-time data systems and empowered local governments.

China has launched a pilot program for green foreign debt financing in 16 regions, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Shenzhen. The scheme aims to draw global capital into green projects by offering lower risk weights, higher financing limits, and simpler procedures. It claims to balance openness with financial security.

Youth have long driven change, yet their participation in formal politics is declining as decision-making spaces exclude them. In a new analysis, Shally Baloch and Santiago Barrail examine how governments can better engage the next generation, as young activists carve out their own spaces and strategies.

Tech-facilitated parliamentary monitoring gets a comprehensive guide through a collaboration between the National Democratic Institute and Directorio Legislativo. Rooted in experiences from 12 Parliamentary Monitoring Organizations across Asia, Latin America, and Europe, the guide presents eight use cases leveraging 20 tech tools that can be adapted across different contexts.

ESSENTIAL WATCHING

Climate Finance Accountability takes center stage in the latest YAFCAST video featuring the Youth for Adaptation Finance (YAF) Team with special guest Ndi Nancy Saiboh. This conversation explores how accountability and transparency in climate finance can unlock youth empowerment and sustainable development opportunities across Africa. 

FROM OUR MEMBERS

HUMANITY UNITED: Bryan Sims, Director of Peacebuilding & Partnerships, reflects on today's human rights crisis as an opportunity to reimagine justice systems in a new Human Rights Funders Network blog. His analysis suggests that moments of crisis can become moments of possibility if we act collectively and boldly to reshape systems upholding human dignity and freedom.

FORD FOUNDATION: Celebrates a milestone: the Forest Tenure Funders Group surpassed its $1.7 billion commitment to strengthen Indigenous and collective land rights. The collective investment of over four years by the Ford Foundation alongside partner governments and philanthropies demonstrates the progress possible when stakeholders unite around climate and nature protection. As the world looks ahead to COP30, this achievement aims to raise global ambition and ensure Indigenous Peoples and local communities are recognized as key climate and nature protection actors.

PACKARD FOUNDATION: Announced that 46.4% of their 2024 grantmaking within Global Majority countries supported locally led organizations, exceeding their original pledge, and demonstrating concrete progress toward funding practices that shift power to local communities.

TOOLS AND TRENDS FOR FUNDERS

Transformation becomes possible when financial resources meet context-specific support, demonstrated by Forest Peoples Programme's new briefing "Valuing Allyship." Six stories from Asia, Africa, and Latin America highlight how success emerges from deep-rooted, trusting relationships that couple financial resources with responsive, long-term non-financial support.

What can foundations do in a world of falling aid flows? Charles Kenny explores this critical question as traditional development funding faces unprecedented constraints, challenging philanthropic organizations to rethink their strategies and approaches.

Alice Albrights offers strategic advice for philanthropy in support of development finance following the Financing for Development agreement reached in Seville in July. Alice offers new analysis for funders navigating the evolving landscape of international development cooperation.

International nonprofits navigate a post-USAID landscape with new perspectives from the Global South, as organizations adapt to changing funding realities and power dynamics in international development cooperation.

HAVE YOUR SAY

The Global Aid Freeze survey from Accountability Lab, Global Voices, and Humentum continues collecting data on aid cuts' impact on civil society worldwide. This growing dataset—the largest available on these issues—informs decision-making by governments, foundations, networks, and organizations globally. Take part now. The five-minute survey is available in English, Arabic, Spanish, and French, with inputs truly appreciated to collectively understand where and how civil society needs support.

Focused Topic of the Week: 

Navigating New Pressures: Leadership and Solidarity in the Social Sector

There was a strange mood around the UN General Assembly and New York Climate Week. More events than ever, the same show pieces, such as the Clinton Global Initiative, but more worries about the state of the world and ability to respond - not least due to increasing threats to civil society. 

TAI was busy helping host conversations ranging from the future of development to accountability of transition minerals development to revitalizing democracy support to visioning a gender justice economy. Many were seeking inspiration and reasons to be hopeful (see reflections of TAI’s Michael Jarvis), but there was no escaping the backdrop.

A chilling trend is accelerating as civil society organizations and their philanthropic backers face escalating, politically motivated attacks. In the United States, a new memorandum framed as taking on “domestic terrorism” raises critical questions for foundations and non profits. Foundation leaders are navigating a delicate balance between managing risks and remaining visibly committed to their mission. For more on the context, listen to the latest season of The Atlantic’s podcast Autocracy in America and Laura Adam’s reflection on closing civic space. 

While these pressures may feel new to some, they are familiar to partners and defenders on the frontlines of shrinking civic space worldwide. Journalists and activists in Latin America, for example, continue to face floods of online attacks and threats for their work, a stark reminder of the high stakes involved in holding power to account. The lessons learned from these environments are invaluable, offering proven strategies for resilience, and Shannon Green suggests they offer a new playbook for philanthropy concerned about developments in the U.S.

Sara Ellis Conant and Jacob Harold argue that this moment calls for a new "future-oriented leadership" within the social sector, one rooted in purpose, values, and humility to navigate a hostile and uncertain funding environment. To escape a purely defensive posture, we need proactive efforts to build alliances and reaffirm shared principles, as seen in the Open Government Partnership's new Vitoria-Gasteiz Declaration to strengthen democracy and protect civic space. 

JOBS

CALLS

CALENDAR

We’d love to hear from you on how we can further improve TAI Weekly to better serve your needs in program management on the transparency, accountability, improved grantmaking and civic space. Please direct your feedback to [email protected] or

SUBSCRIBE TO TAI WEEKLY

Don't miss our latest publications Subscribe now to get our notifications